Kyle Brady: Blog » GOP

A Plea for Democracy [OpEd]

Kyle Brady — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:05:00 +0000

The so-called healthcare “debate” in America has crossed the border that marks the differences between sane, rational discussion and heated, emotional irrationalities, that has resulted in the opponents of a national healthcare plan – of any kind – drawing murky parallels to demonized characters and unethical activities with no basis in reality. Militia groups are seeing rapid growth in portions of the country, meetings designed to foster discussion between Congressmen and citizens are being hijacked by screaming and disingenuous mobs, and the life of President Obama could potentially be seriously jeopardized in the near future by one of the aforementioned crazed mob attendants – is this what the United States of America was founded for?

Does drowning out the voices of concerned citizens, asking legitimate questions, with shouts for violence and bloodshed bring to mind the principles of “Freedom of Speech”? Does a so-called “news network” claiming that the President isn’t a citizen, is a secretly a member of a domestically unpopular religion, or has philosophical ties to Adolf Hitler qualify as “Freedom of Press”? Does a major political party ignoring the problems their members are causing, and in some cases feeding them, qualify as a legitimate usage of “Freedom of Association”? The answer to all the above is a definitive “no”, and are the very basis on which American Democracy is currently being threatened.

The Republican Party, and more specifically the ultraconservative subset, has viciously opposed President Obama since he started campaigning, and their feelings have only grown stronger in the last few months. However, it’s interesting to note that when President Bush was recently in power for eight years, and the Democratic Party was largely dissatisfied with him, there were no violent gatherings calling for his death, no major news networks defaming him (in any manner) as part of their political agenda, nor was there a laundry list of patently false conspiracy theories that spurred membership growth for politically-driven militias. In fact, the last time there was such political violence and outrage, it was once again from the Republican Party during the Clinton Administration. Coincidence? Many neocons would use such information as a validation of their behaviors, claiming the Democratic Party is so demonstrably wrong that they create a reaction, but logical reasoning would indicate otherwise.

This repetitive and predictable ideological reaction to anything deemed liberal, which is used by the GOP as a demonizing term, would have resulted in Congressional gridlock if there wasn’t a Democratic majority – even if some of the Democrats are only so in name. The fact that such a majority exists, along with the epic crises seen in the recent past, puts the lie to many of the modern Republican ideals, but does not mean that Democrats vote along party lines for simple, self-beneficial reasons – they tend to analyze issues before deciding how to vote, rather than agreeing (or dismissing, in the case of Republicans) with the ideological policy. America must be thankful for this.

But having a Democratic Congress has nonetheless resulted in problems since President Obama wished to, until recently, include the ranting Republicans on policy. By doing so, the self-appointed “party of opposition” was given a pulpit from which to preach, and it was abused: spreading lies from the microphone of the Senate or House is an intolerable offense, especially when the end goal is merely to “break” the current President and his reputation. Furthermore, the confirmation of conspiracy theories and outright falsehoods, that originated on an insufferable “slandertainment” network, by Congressmen has only fanned the flames of the outraged GOP members, and given reason for the racist, unintelligent, and incoherent masses to rise up.

The current outrage seen at townhalls across the country, intended to discuss healthcare with average citizens, has been shown to be manufactured: groups of people are being told where to attend, what to say, and how to behave by both FOX News and Republican politicians. But it should come as no surprise that the very manufacturers are calling such an undemocratic and childish method of expression “Democracy in action”, even when it is neither Democratic in nature nor legitimate outrage. The Founding Fathers, who so often get referenced by the screaming mobs of gun-toting neocons, were able to sit together and have rational discussions of issues with each other, regardless of personal, political, or religious ideology, and come to a general consensus on the best course of action for the people – is this in any way similar to the current activities of the majority of the Republican Party?

As August 2009 progresses, the attention being given to the crazed mob is increasingly alarming, and will likely lead to an epic misstep for the Republican Party: an attempt on President Obama’s life, or a foiled plot with similar intentions, by one of the GOP’s own. Before the summer months began, most of the neocons were content with calling Obama a “socialist” and making veiled references to his supposed lack of citizenship or hidden religion. But June and July saw an increase in anti-Obama rhetoric, spurred on by the same puppetmasters behind town-hall-crashing, and the lies increased in proportion to the strength and probability of a healthcare reform bill: the forced euthanasia of the elderly / general “rationing” of healthcare, the destruction of Capitalism, medical symbols mutated to look like Nazi propaganda, and the list continues. If the current pace of extremist escalation is maintained, the month of August may very well be known as the deathknell of the modern Republican Party.

The saddest fact, among a litany of disheartening information, is that the majority of the American people don’t know any better than to believe the lies spread by both the politicians and members of the Republican Party. Between sourceless chain emails, misleading articles in biased mainstream publications, and the coverage of neocon nonsense without clarification or labels by mainstream news networks, the average citizen doesn’t know what to believe without doing independent research – which takes effort, something the American people are not known for freely expending. Instead, people are forced to listen to friends, family, and neighbors spew nonsense derived from Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, or Michael Steele, and decide whether it’s fact – good luck if they watch FOX News hoping for truth.

Politics in America has reached a point where people feel obligated, if not pressured outright, to accept the beliefs of others as legitimate – no matter their factual basis. To question the political beliefs of another is often a terrible offense, and results in claims of “I can believe what I want to” as a defense of their ignorance, much like the forced tolerance of religion, even as religion itself is intolerant of outside belief systems. This is not Democracy.

Intelligence, reason, and thoughtful discussion left American culture long ago, and a direct result is the current political climate of blind opposition and outrage. It is, time and time again, the same group of people that participate in such public defamation, no matter the topic: those who violently oppose healthcare reform tend to be extremely religious, white, Southern, Republican individuals that are also against Democratic politicians having power, gay marriage, and the intellectual process. The culture of tolerance that has been cultivated since the early 1900’s (or earlier) must end, as some things are intolerable – the swift destruction of Democracy is one.

If America is to return to its former position of reasoned and thoughtful political debate, things must change: either the Republican Party must be forced to reform its ways, or be abolished, based on the constant disruption of the political process; politicians and news networks alike must be held accountable for inciting violence and spreading lies to the American public; the crazed mobs of screaming neocons must be contained and shown the error of their ways, if only for their own personal betterment. Placing the Democratic Party in a sole position of unchecked power is not an appropriate solution, but the current system of de facto opposition by Republicans is not the intention of a multi-party political system. Neither is it the intention of “Freedom of Speech”, “Freedom of Assembly”, or “Freedom of Press” to incite violence, support militias, or disseminate falsehood propaganda in order to further private agendas.

Rational voices must be given precedence over the irrational, as they make a plea for Democracy’s continued existence as the basis of American government. Democracy, in its true form, must be restored in America.

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Note: apologies again on being a day late - things will be back on schedule next week.

The GOP May Write Itself Out of the Future [OpEd]

Kyle Brady — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:05:07 +0000

Republicans, in general, have been having a hard time relating to modern America and its citizens, as their ideas, policies, and politicians fall flat, one after another. The choice of John McCain as their Presidential Candidate in the 2008 election was their first misstep, after having such a hated President in Office, and the months since McCain’s loss to Barack Obama – in no small part thanks to the choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate – have been painful to watch, as their decline from relevancy continues at an accelerated rate.

The GOP’s insistence on fighting any and all policies of President Obama, or other Democrats, is embarrassing given their unilateral unconcern for the issue at hand – claiming said policy will be a reversal of what the party has worked for is not a sufficient argument in a disaster-ridden time that was largely sparked by Conservative rule. Additionally, the majority of Republican politicians continue to use defense arguments laughably based on policy cost, without considering their own expenditures for war and other party-line failures, and anti-American ideals, hoping to rally and inspire the American people to their side.

This is not happening, nor will it in the foreseeable future.

President Obama was elected because the country was largely interested in a change of political ideals, and the very vocal minority of disgruntled Americans screaming about socialism, fascism, or whatever the smear du jour may be are not changing the minds of those that voted. Obama is not perfect, nor is he a political savior, but he’s managing to do enough things properly to keep most people happy – whereas the Republican party continues to degrade itself.

Recent history has demonstrated this very party degradation, as Senators have converted to Democrats and the Democratic stronghold within Congress grows – which the Republican minority battles with filibusters, threats, and smokescreens. Even further loss of relevance and respect comes via the very figureheads and posterchildren of the party itself: the list starts with Sarah Palin and Mark Sanford, continues with the likes of Michael Steele, and adds to itself on what seems to be a daily basis.

These politicians are not just ruining their own careers, but are, in fact, taking down the party in piecemeal fashion. Sarah Palin was the Vice Presidential candidate just a year ago, Mark Sanford was a possible candidate for 2012 (along with Sarah Palin), and Dick Cheney, the former Vice President, is publicly defaming Obama via any method possible. These are the individuals the American people are supposed to trust and endorse? Many more examples can be found of sexual hypocrites, unintelligent ramblings, and incoherent policies – most non-FOX News outfits will provide easy access to this information.

However, the degradation comes not only from politicians, but from the pundits and talkshow hosts who consider themselves essential to their political party. Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck are the easiest three to recognize, but the number of such public figures using media access to push “extreme right wing” Republican rhetoric is astonishing. These talking heads may have large, and growing audiences, but they will always cater to the American minority: the less educated, the unintelligent, and the racially biased population that is easily swayed by big words and scary propaganda. While the politicians are making fools of themselves via policy, the conservative media is largely doing the same, thanks to conspiracy theories, inaccurate “facts”, and manipulation of their guests – all of this can be countered with a dose of intelligence and a small amount of fact checking.

As the sex scandals continue, the political rhetoric becomes more heated and embattled, and the party continues to alienate entire swaths of demographic targets (young adults, non-whites, gays and lesbians, etc.), the question of whether their current irrelevance may turn into complete disappearance becomes pertinent. How can a party that has little-to-no support from the voting public continue to exist, let alone have any hope at regaining power (in any fashion) without changing their ways? Such actions are no better than political suicide – yet they continue.

American Democracy has relied on what amounts to a two party system for almost its entire history, but it does not require that the most modern incarnation of Democrats and Republicans has to continue. Parties have risen, grown, and died many times over the last two centuries, sometimes with the party continuing to exist while changing nearly every facet of their ideology. If the GOP’s current pace of self-destruction continues, the 2012 Presidential Election may prove to be the watershed event that allows another party into the spotlight while the old and tired Republicans fade not-so-quietly into the night.

When rooting for the Republicans to fail as a party, it is important to remember two crucial points. First, if the Republican Party can reinvent itself into a relatable, sensible, modern political party, they can then once again become relevant and acceptable. It remains to be seen, however, whether they are willing to do so. Second, it is absolutely crucial that the Democratic Party is not allowed to run unopposed in any level or form of government – a viable party, or candidate at a minimum, needs to be seated in direct opposition. Modern Democrats are fairly reasonable, sometimes progressive, and occasionally intelligent, but all such qualities can be quickly shed in order to protect themselves and their interests in what would amount to an American form of despotism.

It is high time the GOP recognize their defeat by their own hands, and take prepare for their future – this would require reigning in the loudmouthed pundits spewing nonsense across America, replacing the unfavorable and aging politicians with their younger counterparts, and reforming their party-line politics into a cooperative group of individuals that are interested in a core set of values truly for the betterment of the American people. If this cannot, or will not, be accomplished within the coming months and years, they will likely continue to fail in their political endeavors, until they have written themselves out of existence, and the deadline is both very tangible and very close…

Early November, 2012.

Obama Proves His Intelligence [Old Content]

Kyle Brady — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:04:05 +0000

Word comes down that Obama has intentions of committing 3% of our GDP to science, something along the lines of $15b into research and development. This follows one of the most anti-science Presidents America has ever had, which has helped to usher in the resurgence of idiocy and religion-knows-better-than-science "intelligent design" - albeit mostly in the Bible Belt.

I've spoken before on the horrible failure of the current incarnation GOP, as well as the main reasons I voted for Obama in the first place - his dedication to science, and intellectual pursuits in general. However, following his rise to the Presidency, "the auto bailout" had a bunch of money cut from science spending... this is a more direct attempt to return our country to a state of general intelligence, or at least competence.

As President Obama noted, our future lies in our continuing prowess in the realm of computers/computing and innovation... not in outsourcing these jobs to other countries. But this cannot be accomplished when the majority of people graduating high school, or even college to a lesser extent, don't understand the basic tenets of science, and have only a cursory grip on things like Algebra. And most of the country doesn't truly understand what "theory" means in the scientific world.

Obviously this is going to affect operations and organizations like NASA, the National Science Foundation, school systems, and public policies with a scientific tinge (abortion, stem cell research, global warming, deforestation, etc.). But there's something that isn't likely to be obvious to the already-ignorant: in the process of giving more money to school systems, they're going to set standards.

Numerous southern states have been battling evolution in recent history, to varying degrees of "success", and the evangelicals/Christian fanatics are feeling pretty good about themselves at the moment. We've finally defeated the "theory" of evolution! "Intelligent design" can be taught in schools! The Universe is only a few thousand years old! You can almost taste their elation. But it's not going to last.

Scientists all over are pushing back, and hard, against this, but the real power is about to step up... the Federal Government never hands out money to states without restrictions, qualifications, or kickbacks - they have a long history of "we'll give you money, as long as you do one thing for us...". This is how our highway system developed.

I, along with all of intelligent America, will applaud and support any movement by the Feds to lay down a more strict definition of what can and cannot be taught in the public school system as science. I'm not talking about Creationist pseudo-science, but the real kind that has evidence and no mentions of a superhero. I mean God.

President Obama, please keep this up. You're going to continue to outrage the GOP and their fanatical constituents, but America will be better off for all of this. Don't give in, don't cave to their whining or Rush Limbaugh's red-faced outrage.

They don't deserve even your consideration. And, thanks to both you and the GOP, I'm now a registered Democrat.